3.79 avg rating — 2,602 ratings

"Takes place in an idyllic country situated on a lake. Vineyards and farmland - symbols of generational cultivation - permeate the text. A catholic priest acts as a mentor figure to the main character as he studies horticulture. Cultivation of plants, crops, vines, architecture, settlements and even learned men is a constant theme, along with their eventually (and depressing) destruction at the hands of barbarians. Reminiscent of the City of Man versus the City of God as written by Saint Augustine. "

4.30 avg rating — 4,428,468 ratings

"Begins with the Shire, an idyllic place of farms and gardens. Main character sets out on an adventure, learning about himself and the world. Ultimately he helps an exiled royal house to regain its ancestral home. "

4.41 avg rating — 3,125,254 ratings

"Begins in the Shire, an idyllic farmland. The main characters undertake a quest to destroy the embodiment of temptation to sin and power. Self Sacrifice for the greater good. "

4.50 avg rating — 1,115,739 ratings

"Main characters continue their quest. Gandalf returns from the dead imitating the resurrection of Christ. Gollum personifies what happens when one allows a false idol to subsume their personality. "

4.58 avg rating — 1,032,424 ratings

"Frodo ventures down into a near literal hell in order to destroy evil, giving up a good deal of himself in the process, so that he experiences a death. Evil is destroyed (at least for the time being). Aragorn returns to the ancestral seat of his dynasty and becomes king. "

4.27 avg rating — 12,557 ratings

"Although three out of four of the stories in this book are adventures, the third takes place entirely on a farm in Southern Sweden. "

4.09 avg rating — 504,324 ratings